If you're either already living in Spain and want to compare you own experience with
mine - or you are thinking of moving here - you might enjoy reading the
following. Please note that these are not to be taken too seriously. If you
disagree strongly [or even weakly] with what I have written, feel free to tell
me so on colindavies@terra.es

After I had been in Spain only a few months, I recorded my
initial observations. This is the link to them. If you are Spanish and
sensitive, please note the caveats I make in the introduction....
Initial
Observations on Spain

Since mid November 2003, my observations on life here have
been published on the following blog site:-
Thoughts from Galicia

Unless you live on the Costa del Sol - or have taken the
decision to move there - you may find my somewhat jaundiced view of that coast
of some interest....
The Costa del Sol

Here's a little bit about George Barrow.......
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, he was born in 1803, in Norfolk,
England and died in 1881, in Oulton Broad, wherever that is. He was, in short,
an "English traveller, linguist, and one of the most imaginative prose writers
of the 19th century." In more detail... "Borrow was the son of a professional
soldier and led a wandering childhood as his father's regiment was moved
around the British Isles; these peregrinations inspired memorable passages in
his masterpiece, Lavengro (1851). Between 1815 and 1818 he attended
grammar school at Norwich, and it was here that he began to acquire a
smattering of many languages. An attempt to apprentice him to the law proved
unsuccessful, and early in 1824 he decided to try his luck in London. There he
remained for about a year. At length his health collapsed, and he went on a
long bohemian pilgrimage through rural England. His adventures, including many
contacts with Gypsies, provided some of the background for Lavengro and
The Romany Rye (1857). He strayed back again, however, to Norwich,
where he completed Romantic Ballads, translated from the Danish (1826).
In Spain, while working for a Bible society, he found his literary homeland,
whence came the raw materials for The Zincali: An Account of the
Gypsies in Spain (1841) and for his brilliantly picturesque, yet highly
informative, travel book The Bible in Spain(1842). Its success
was “instantaneous and overwhelming.”

By
his own admission, George wasn’t terribly successful at pushing Bibles in
Spain. But he did have a great time, falling in love with the country and its
people in the process. “She is”, he wrote, “the most magnificent country in
the world. And I have found much that is noble and to be admired amongst the
Spanish people, who have always treated me with kindness and courtesy”.

Here's
George Borrow's book on Spanish gypsies - The Zincali. A fascinating read.

And
here are some extracts from
my friend Peter Missler's marvellous book on one of the great characters
described by Borrow - Benedict Mol, The Treasure Hunter of Santiago.
Click here for details on
how to get your hands on the whole thing.

Talking of writers,
here's a list of Spanish authors cited by Michael Jacobs in his
entertaining book, Between Hopes and Memories: A Spanish Journey

Here are the memoirs of a French hussar officer, M. Rocca,
who fought during the War of Independence in Spain, from 1808 to 1811.

In 1912, an Englishman called Aubrey Bell wrote a book
called "Magic of Spain", of which
this is the Intro
and the Preface.
This is his
fascinating view
on the Spanish Character, possibly out-of-date.
And here is his view of
travelling in Spain, which certainly is. Plus his
dissertation on
crossing the border with France.Go here if you want to
read or download the whole book -
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028472979

More recently, an expert on the
ancient world - Alfred B Mittington - has brought his knowledge and expertise
to bear on an issue which troubles the governments of both Spain and Britain.
Not to mention Morocco. This is Gibraltar, of course. Click
here for this
fascinating exposition of the factors at play.

Another friend of mine - Peter
Missler - has written this fascinating
anlaysis of why and how
the Spanish spend huge sums on their daily and annual lotteries. And of the
beliefs and superstitions which surround this expensive and occasionally
fruitful activity.